Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Although the faces have changed, the hassles are just the same.

Before Tracy and I had our final chat about venturing into the working poor diet again, I battled the thought in my mind for about a week. Did I really want to put myself through this again? The lack of food. The picture of the thin body I had in my mind. The constant worrying and preparation? It was not an easy decision, but I am glad that I am attempting the Working Poor Diet for a second time. I have a friend from work who joined us this year as well. Good luck Lorianne.

We got up at 6:00 on Sunday morning. I was in bed at 2:30. Not the best idea in the world. I picked up Tracy and we were at Superstore by 7 am. I was so excited that we were there earlier enough to fight off everyone else for the 50% discounted meat. Except to my horror, there was none. There were no pink stickers. No trace of discounted meat. I was so disappointed. We were too early. And so I had to settle for regular priced meat. A sad, but good lesson to learn.

However there was a plethora of 50% vegetables. This brought back a smile to my face. I bought a bag of kiwis, grapefruits, oranges, apples, cauliflower and other fruits and veg all for 50% off. And the produce was in fairly good shape. I think the most exciting find was the 77 cent head of romaine lettuce. They were huge!

We drove to another Superstore to see if there was any meat on sale there, but unfortunately there was nothing. Tracy and I were shocked to see that the heads of romaine were $1.68. What the hell? In a part of the city where we expected to see lower prices, we actually found the majority of prices to be more expensive. Another good lesson: not all stores of the same name have food priced the same. This was not something I encountered much of the first time we did the diet.

This time around, I am aiming to maintain my current weight (as much as possible) because I am finally at a point where I am happy with my body. As such, I am having slightly higher than the recommended 3 servings of meat & alternatives from the Canada Food Guide. I am also maxing out the grains and am going to see what I can do to maintain my weight.

1 comment:

Good luck to all of you for taking this challenge! It's good that you're reporting on the price differences you've found for the food at some of the Superstore locations. I'm sure a lot of low-income people cannot afford a car to drive around and check prices at the different stores, and probably wouldn't have time to take buses to check all around town for the best deals. I hope Superstore is able to provide an explanation for the difference in price of some of these foods.

The Working Poor Diet

For the entire month of February each of us will spend $80 a month on food and attempt to follow the Canada Food Guide.

The economic realityDespite being one of the wealthiest provinces in the country, Alberta`s minimum wage of $8.40 is the fourth lowest in the country and about 21% of working Albertans earn less than $12 per hour. The Working Poor Diet challenges Canadians to understand the difficulties low-income families face putting healthy food on the table each day.

Eating wellThe Canada Food Guide describes what amount of food people need and what type of food is part of a healthy eating pattern - Vegetables and Fruit, Grain Products, Milk and Alternatives, and Meat and Alternatives - plus a certain amount of added oils and fats.

Our goalThe key goal of the Working Poor Diet is to raise money for the Edmonton Food Bank. While the food bank receives many dry food donations, it needs money for operating costs such as rent, insurance and gas.

The rules1. No free food. This means participants can not eat sample food available at grocery stories or food offered by friends and family. All food consumed during the challenge must be paid for out of the $80 food allowance.2. Participants must follow the Canada Food Guide as closely as possible and eat a variety of meals.3. Participants are allowed to eat out, but they must deduct the cost of the meal from the $80 monthly food allowance.4. The costs of any beverages, including tea and coffee, must be deducted from the $80 monthly food allowance.5. Participants do not have to pay for salt, pepper, vinegar and dry spices - food items that have no nutritional value or ability to fill you up. Participants must pay for cooking oil and any condiments from the $80 monthly food allowance.6. The diet begins12:01 am, February 1 and runs through to February 28. 6:00 pm.